Cutter’s Way is at once an American film of its time and for all ensuing times, an ugly-truth endeavor examining a nation in which the rich and powerful literally get away with murder while the poor and pitiful barely exist at all.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 15, 2023

...an exceedingly (and sometimes excessively) deliberate drama that benefits from its stellar performances and raft of appealing, eye-catching attributes...

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 14, 2022

Richly compelling.

| Aug 16, 2019

...as damning an indictment of American society and post-Vietnam disillusionment as anything produced by New Hollywood...

| Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 28, 2018

An inspiring film, it is constructed like a thriller; but instead of reaching for thrills, it leaves them in the background and concentrates on the complexities of its characters.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 31, 2015

Almost as impressive as Polanski's Chinatown and an extraordinary change of gear from one of the fine Czech New Wave's most notable alumni.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 24, 2011

[Heard] is one of America's great lost actors.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 24, 2011

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 24, 2011

The film moves with an easy uncoerced swing: moment by moment, scene by scene, we are unsure what to think or where we are going. It is a fascinating, organically grown drama.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 23, 2011

An underrated classic.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 23, 2011

Passer continued his wayward career without ever producing anything quite like Cutter again. It's a one-off, a largely overlooked shining gem. Do yourself a favour.

| Jun 23, 2011

Cutter and Bone are seriously unlikeable characters, yet Czech émigré director Ivan Passer and writer Jeffrey Alan Fiskin make us see light in these hearts of darkness.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 23, 2011

Exceptional script, direction and performances make this elliptical neo-noir a forgotten classic.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jun 23, 2011

Like the '70s output of Pakula and Lumet, Ivan Passer's tense thriller stands as a classy monument to the paranoia of post-Watergate America.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 6, 2011

The three leads are on outstanding form, while Jack Nitzsche's score shimmers with foreboding.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 31, 2011

Paranoid crime thriller.

| Original Score: B | Jul 14, 2010

Suffers from a terminal case of creative indecision.

| Mar 26, 2009

This anatomy of intimate male camaraderie in the post-Vietnam War era could have been more resonant if the tale didn't include a routine murder mystery, which diffuses the otherwise beautifully acted (particularly Jeff Bridges) and shot saga.

| Original Score: B- | Apr 27, 2007

The result is nothing less than a modern masterpiece, and a film ripe for rediscovery.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 9, 2006

It's the sort of picture that never wants to concede what it's about. It is, however, enchanted by the sound of its own dialogue, which is vivid without being informative or even amusing on any level.

Full Review | Aug 30, 2004